Housing Starts, Permits Down Vs. Last Year

The Census Bureau reports that privately owned housing starts for September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,530,000. This rate is essentially unchanged from the revised August figure of 1,525,000, but it is a 6% decline from the September 1999 rate of 1,628,000.

September’s single-family housing starts were at the level of 1,233,000 units µ a 1% decrease compared to the August figure of 1,249,000. The rate for buildings with two to four units was 35,000, while the rate for buildings with five units or more was 262,000.

The regional breakout for September indicates that the Northeast and West were up compared to August. The Midwest and South, on the other hand, were down.

Looking at the first nine months of the year, 1,232,300 housing units were started vs. 1,277,500 units for the first three quarters of 99. This is 4% less than a year ago.

Building Permits

Permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,506,000. This figure is 1% above the revised August rate of 1,486,000. Compared to the September 99 rate of 1,553,000, it is 3% lower.

Single-family housing permits were at a rate of 1,145,000 in September, basically unchanged from August’s 1,140,000. Permit-authorized buildings with two to four units were at a rate of 63,000. Authorizations for buildings with five units or more were at 298,000.

The regional numbers for September show the Northeast, Midwest, and South all up compared to August, with the West down.

For the first nine months of 2000, 1,208,700 housing units were authorized by building permits. This represents a 6% decline measured against the 1,279,400 units for the same period of 99.

Publication date: 11/13/2000

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Greg Mazurkiewicz is Web Editor. He can be contacted at 248-244-6459 or gregmazurkiewicz@achrnews.com. Greg handles the day-to-day operations of The NEWS' website, www.achrnews.com, including the Extra Edition page, which offers additional online-exclusive articles. He has 40 years of experience as a writer and editor. He holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism and a master's degree in Business Management.